diagnosis of a brain tumour

Dec 08, 2012 17:47

ANSWERED. Thank you all so much for your help ( Read more... )

~medicine: injuries: head injuries, uk: london, uk: health care and hospitals

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Comments 19

jayb111 December 8 2012, 21:06:42 UTC
As a tourist he won't be entitled to care on the NHS, beyond the initial emergency treatment, so what happens to him will depend on what insurance he has.

We don't say ER here - it's A&E (for Accident and Emergency) or Casualty. You might try Googling "A&E Camden" for an answer to your question about where he'd be taken. But he'd probably be transferred/referred to a specialist unit once it became apparent that there was a more serious problem.

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nerd_do_well December 8 2012, 21:09:50 UTC
Oops, yes - I know we call it A&E, being British myself - I was still in the "write like an American" mindset because the story is in the character's first person.

Thanks for your help, though! I figured he'd probably be repatriated, which I assume would be covered by his travel insurance.

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rhiannon_s December 8 2012, 21:15:09 UTC
It's been a while, but I think The Royal Free Hospital, or UCH are the nearest hospitals with an A&E department (A&E or Accident and Emergency) is our version of ER, previously know as "Casualty", but that is going back quite a few years).. Maybe St Barts at a push.

Can't help with the treatment, but tourists aren't generally entitled to more than emergency care, so unless it was clearly and imminently life-threatening then he'd be informed to seek medical treatment at home in the US. However, most UK doctors and surgeons will stretch imminently life-threatening to cover quite a bit. So if you want him treated here, you can probably swing it. If the tumour is causing the seizures and hallucinations then they'd probably be prepared to go for it on grounds it probably isn't safe for him to travel.

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nerd_do_well December 8 2012, 21:19:15 UTC
Thank you for your help - I hadn't considered the angle of the surgery taking place in this country because the seizures were too dangerous for him to travel. If he had a particularly sympathetic doctor then it's quite possible that he would get treated in this country... Money is no object for him, so I would assume he'd have pretty comprehensive insurance.

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marycatelli December 8 2012, 22:29:19 UTC
Americans for whom money is no object frequenlty don't have insurance. This is because they can pay out of pocket.

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okaasan59 December 8 2012, 22:46:47 UTC
The only Americans I know who don't have insurance are those who can't afford it. A catastrophic illness and hospital stay can run into the millions. Plus, most hospitals in the U.S. won't treat someone beyond emergency care if they don't have insurance or Medicaid.

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hsb December 8 2012, 22:44:35 UTC
My SIL just got diagnosed with a brain tumour. She's British, so her treatment may not map to your character's, and she was 2 weeks late and just going into labour with child No 2 (since born safely) when she had the seizures that caused the emergency trip to hospital, which is even less like your situation. Nevertheless, she was given an MRI as soon as she'd had the child and was safe to get one; I'd guess they would have done it at once had she not been pregnant ( ... )

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nerd_do_well December 8 2012, 22:47:38 UTC
Oh wow, thank you! You've been really helpful. The personal experience anecdotes were very informative!

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okaasan59 December 8 2012, 22:52:22 UTC
I don't know if medical procedure would differ much from that in the U.S. but, unfortunately, I know someone who had a similar experience (minus the hallucinations), in Dallas, TX. He had a seizure, passed out and hit his head. He was taken to emergency then admitted to the hospital. They did a CT scan within a few hours and an MRI the next day. I think the CT scan was to make sure he didn't have a skull fracture or something. The doctor's suspect he might have epilepsy because of the seizure and they also did an EEG. I suspect your character's brain tumor would be discovered during the MRI.

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nerd_do_well December 8 2012, 22:55:41 UTC
I was originally wondering whether an EEG would be performed, but I thought that a CT scan would probably negate the necessity for that because it would show that the problem was a tumour, rather than a neurological condition such as epilepsy. Anyway, thank you for your help - that sounds like a logical progression of things in the case of my character as well!

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fififolle December 9 2012, 00:30:19 UTC
1) Royal Hampstead Free sounds fine. If you wanted him to go somewhere else you could say the Free was full and diverted the ambulance elsewhere ( ... )

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